Erection of retail warehousing and a replacement roadside restaurant.

Erection of retail warehousing and a replacement roadside restaurant.

Due to the prejudicial interest declared by the Chairman in respect of the application, Members were required to elect a Chairman. Councillor J.G. Jarvis was elected Chairman for the following item.

The Principal Planning Officer advised Members that a number of representations had been omitted from the report. He reported the receipt of the following representations:

• Ross Rural Parish Council supported the application.
• Ross Town Council expressed concerns in respect of increased traffic, the impact on an AONB and the lack of a pedestrian crossing.
• Brampton Abbots Parish Council expressed concerns in respect of the impact on Ross town centre, increased traffic, the impact on an AONB and adequate office accommodation already present in Ross.
• West Midland Regional Assembly felt that the application was in general conformity to RSS.
• Welsh Water recommended conditions regarding drainage.
• Ross Chamber of Commerce supported the application and felt that this was a prestige site in Ross-on-Wye and that the new development could bring 1,500,000 people to the site in the first year alone. They also felt that the development would improve the appearance of the area and that other businesses in Ross-on-Wye would benefit from the increased traffic bought to the site.
• Three letters of support.
• Two letters of objection.
• A letter from the applicant’s agent in response to the Officer’s report. The Principal Planning Officer confirmed that all Members had received a copy of this letter prior to the meeting.

The Principal Planning Officer confirmed that the bus service stopped twice daily at Overross and not once as stated in the report. He also requested that a further reason for refusal be added to the recommendation to address concerns raised by the Highways Agency. Prior to Members discussing the application the Principal Planning Officer confirmed that a separate outline application had been received for the office buildings on the site.

In accordance with the criteria for public speaking, Mr. Buckley spoke against the application and Mrs. Ellis, the applicant, spoke in support.

In response to a question from Councillor J.G. Jarvis, the Principal Planning Officer confirmed the location of the fast food restaurant on the site plan.

Councillor Mrs. C.J. Davis, one of the Local Ward Members, noted that the application had received support from Advantage West Midlands. She felt that the transport impact at the Overross roundabout would be minimal and that the application would be of benefit to the residents of Ross. She added that she had seen no evidence to suggest that the application would be detrimental to local businesses.

Councillor Mrs. A.E. Gray, the other Local Ward Member, noted the concerns raised by Ross Town and Brampton Abbot Parish Councils. She had reservations in respect of the possible effect on the town centre and felt that she could not support the application.

Members discussed the application and felt that Ross Labels was a well run business and of great benefit to the people of Ross-on-Wye. However they had grave concerns regarding the possibility of accidents resulting from children crossing the busy A449 to visit the fast food restaurant. They also felt that the application could have an adverse effect on Ross town centre.

Councillor C.J. Davis discussed the merits of deferring further consideration of the application pending a site inspection but on balance Members felt that this would not be necessary.

RESOLVED

That planning permission be refused for the following reasons:

1.      The Council consider that the proposed retail warehouses would have an adverse impact on the vitality and viability of Ross-on-Wye town centre and that the tests for acceptable out-of-centre retail development have not been met.  The proposal would conflict therefore with the Council's retail strategy as expressed in Policies S.5, TCR.1 and TCR.9 of the Herefordshire Unitary Development Plan (Revised Deposit Draft) and RT.1, C.1 and 22 (Part 3) of South Herefordshire District Local Plan.

2.      The retail warehouse development would not be located in a sustainable location, being not readily accessible from the town by cycle or on foot and with a limited bus service.  The proposal would conflict therefore with Policies SR.6 and DR.3 of Herefordshire Unitary Development Plan (Revised Deposit Draft) and T.1A and GD.1 of the South Herefordshire District Local Plan.

3.      The proposal would involve the loss of proposed employment land to retail development and would conflict therefore with Policies E.3, E.5 and S.4 of the Herefordshire Unitary Development Plan (Revised Deposit Draft) and ED.2 and ED.4 of the South Herefordshire District Local Plan.

4.      Impact on proposals on the A449 trunk road have not been fully assessed and the Council is not satisfied therefore that the proposed development would not adversely affect highway safety